I had the book, Of Human Bondage, by Somerset Maugham in my bookshelf for a long time. I don’t even remember when and where I purchased it. I had made some years back to read the classics and then never got around to reading the many classics that I purchased. Just last week, out of […]
Category Archives: Self Help
The Perils of Reading
I have been deeply influenced in my life by the books I have read. This has affected me in ways both good and bad. I recently came across a couple of sentences in the book, Of Human Bondage, written by Somerset Maugham which diagnosed my situation so well that just these two sentences are worth […]
Why Chinese Culture was Unique
My aunt in Pune commented on a past article about the Chinese saying that she could not agree and there is much that she does not like about the Chinese nation. So, I am now pinpointing those aspects of the Chinese that fascinate me. The first aspect is that the Chinese accept that the average […]
The Art of War
This article is about the great military strategist, Sun Tzu, and his classic treatise The Art of War. I still have the James Clavell edition with me which I purchased more than 25 years ago. There is much in the book which I did not understand when I read it but even one insight – […]
Learning from Chinese Culture
I would like to write a couple of articles about what I know of Chinese culture. This is the first and I will start saying that in the years gone by there was almost no mental ailments amongst the Chinese people. Mental ailments were so uncommon that persons who had them were worshipped as messengers […]
Staying Young
This article is a guide to having a youthful outlook. I think that it should be useful to almost all people regardless of their age. The sooner you start to implement this advice the better. But even people who are no longer young can read this with profit. In my opinion we grow old and […]
Be a Warrior – Life is a Battleground
India has been by inspired by Mahatma Gandhi and his thought and philosophy. The concept of nonviolence was taught to me when I was a young child in Modern School in New Delhi. This ideal is the highest philosophy. If I remember correctly the Jain religion has the following dictum which is the essence of […]
The Conquest of Happiness
I am rereading a book that I purchased, I think, more than 30 years ago. The book in question is The Conquest of Happiness by Bertrand Russell. Russell was one of my favourite authors in my teenage years and early 20s. And this book above shaped the decisions which I took at various points in […]
From Sex to Superconsciousness
I was a firebrand when I was a youth, ever ready to act and speak in controversial ways. Now I think I have moved to the opposite extreme and do not generally say anything which might offend someone. I am not sure that this is entirely a good thing but nobody stays young and fearless […]
How to live life fearlessly
One of the main foundations of Buddhist philosophy and teaching is that life is suffering. The Buddha said: There is this Noble Truth of suffering: Birth is suffering, aging is suffering, sickness is suffering, death is suffering… The Buddha goes on to say that there is the Noble Truth of the origin of suffering, the […]